Over the last six months I visited Iran several times. Among other things, I spent time with its Jewish inhabitants, and visited their shrines (e.g. Daniel, Esther). Being a Jew myself I talked at great length about their life in Iran, and their wish not to move to Israel.

You write about Iranian antisemitism. You must know things that I don't, things I missed, misinterpreted or was falsely informed about by my fellow-Jews.

As I am preparing for my next trip, please explain me, Master, where have I gone wrong? How come I missed this obvious antisemitism?

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A Palestinian rights group on Monday rejected the Israeli narrative of the death of 17-year-old Muhammad Hani al-Kasbah, who was shot dead by an Israeli commander in Qalandiya last week.

Al-Haq, which has consultative status with the UN, said that a field investigation found that Israeli soldiers "arbitrarily shot and killed Muhammad, who posed no threat to the Israeli soldiers' lives at the time of the shooting."

Why does it take the Iranians so long, then, to massacre their Jewish population? Is it strategy? They don't need a bomb to hurt these people – if they wanted that at all.

And what do they wait for to invade their neighboring countries?

BTW – If denying the holocaust makes someone a Nazi, what makes that a person who denies millions of people their basic rights and freedom? What would that be a correct way of describing Netanyahu in your vocabulary?

Iran is a partner in the Arab Peace Initiative (2002), that offers full recognition of Israel as part of a comprehensive peace accord, based on the 2SS. The reality is that Israel hasn't even been willing to consider the proposal.

Wow – this is truly disgusting. I wonder why the College Board hasn't acted. It's obvious that a person like this cannot teach – play a public role – anymore. In Holland the guy would be fired instantly and brought to justice.

For most people the Star of David symbolizes Israel, its occupation army, and its brutal behavior vis-a-vis the Palestinians – it's the national symbol of the Gaza Killers. I can imagine that people get upset of others flashing such symbols.

The fact that the antisemitism frame comes from a guy that sees no problem in visiting the City of David – showcase of ethnic cleansing – is telling.

An event planned for Thursday night has been cancelled at the Missouri History Museum after organizers refused to meet the museum’s demand that Palestinian activists be removed from a panel of speakers exploring the similarities between social movements in Ferguson, Ayotzinapa and Palestine.

I agree with you, adding that the more important development is BDS. Fine if people want to believe in Zionist Camp, fine if people want to distinguish between classic, liberal or anti-Zionism, but BDS won't wait for the outcome.

From a BDS-perspective these categories don't matter, as none of them is supportive of basic Palestinian rights. Above I reminded Hophmi of the goals of the Palestinian civil society. Anything else is distraction, meant to create irreversible 'facts on the ground'.

This is about our relationship with the US. You lead, we follow. That's how we ended up in Afghanistan, Iraq and other places. The 'Davids Commission' that investigated the Dutch decision to support the Iraq War introduced a great wording for this: the Atlantic reflex.

And there is the component you mentioned: 95 percent of Dutch Jews were taken away and killed during WW2. The Dutch have not been able to deal with this, not willing to address the fact that they should have done more. It's our elephant in the polder. The only one living below sea level – just to show how deeply rooted this 'little problem' is.

This might explain why the Lobby is very broad, supported in parliament by the social-democrats (Labour), 'liberals' (meaning your Republicans) and christian parties, that together control the I/P-issue in parliament. Of course they are supported by Geert Wilders's Freedom Party (PVV), a firm defender of Israel – receiving cash from the Israel Lobby in the US (the weekly 'Vrij Nederland' spoke of 'coffers full of cash money being wheeled into Dutch parliament'). That's YOUR Lobby, with it's hands in OUR democracy.

The good news being a major shift among the population. It's hard to judge exacly because the Lobby makes so much noise, but polls show that a large majority nowadays supports the Palestinians. By large I mean 70 percent or more. A recent poll shows that 80 percent are in favor of a Palestinian state on pre-1967 lines. The massacre on Gaza made all the difference: people that were long caught between the reasons stated above and the facts on the ground they witnessed, were literally bombed over the line.

We're not afraid of the Lobby. We're dealing with very specific problems. I see it this way: in 1970 Israel was supported by 95 percent of the Dutch. Today by 30 or less. The media and politicians are the last to follow suit, but they're in extra time. The castle will fall, the elephant will swim.

'Does this majority of the population than have no effect at all?' – you might ask. In that case consider the fact that Dutch companies like Unilever, PGGM, Vitens and Royal Haskoning/DHV 'withdrew' from occupied Palestine and/or ended their relation with Israeli firms complicit in the colonization. They did so because of preassure from society.

Yes, CIDI is the primary Lobby outlet in the Netherlands. Their office is in The Hague – close to our parliament. CIDI played a prominent role in knocking over the BDS-debate at VU University, but they've suffered a lot of public criticism about it.

Surely CIDI is supported by 'Dutch Jews', but my guess is that most Dutch Jews are supportive of the Palestinians. Israel is supported in parliament by christians, liberals (meaning Republicans), and of course Geert Wilders' Freedom Party (PVV). And of course the social-democrats have been on Israel's side since the very beginning.

Last week AIW-events in Brussels were also banned, though protest restored most of them. In Rome a speech by Ilan Pappe was banned. At VU University in Amsterdam a BDS-debate was openly sabotaged by the Lobby, and banned.

From the text:
'An important CNN poll is out showing that overwhelmingly Americans regard the invitation to Netanyahu to speak to both house of Congress to attempt to overturn our president’s policy re Iraq as inappropriate, 63 to 33, and …'.

'… thereby unleash a debate over the American interest versus Israel’s interest'.

I guess you should call that 'the world's interests' versus Israel's interests'. I mean, betraying your own people is one, betraying the Palestinians and your friends in Europe is quite something else.

Interesting escalation. It leaves a big open space at the center of the combined Hillels for the Open Hillel to fill up without resistance. It opens the door for the situation in which Open Hillel is the standard. Looking at the new app, things might go fast.

Or be part of the Israel Lobby that has been working inside the NY Times for so long. In that case the editor probably believes he/she is very clever. What is needed now is that his/her boss comes in to make him/her correct this lousy job.

People believe all kind of stuff. Lia Koenig said she could handle the activists' move as she 'just came from a war'. She meant the 'war' against the Palestinians in Gaza. And she sincerely believes she was actually part of that war, facing danger. Koenig is the perfect instrument in the Israeli whitewashing program. That's why she was there – the poor woman.

As for your point. You call it a trick, but it's actually a strategy, a campaign. It even has a name: Brand Israel. Its goal is to sell the country as a place where human values prevail and people can celebrate life, while in reality millions suffer. It's that simple, and the article, including its heading, is a perfect registration of how this works.

In the same way the gay scene is being advertised as a token of Israeli humanity, etc. Same purpose – a facade of human values meant to pinkwash Israels crimes. No more, no less. And no further 'Wörtspielerei' needed.

There is hardly any link between Ajax and Jews (and none with Israel), except for a core of supporters that adopted this romance with Jewish symbols almost fifty years ago, when Ajax had a few famous Jewish players (Sjaak Swart, Benny Muller et al). For insiders, this was the team that Johan Cruyff made his debute in when he was 16.

Anyway, we will go ahead here, demanding that all Israeli flags be banned from the Ajax stadium, or we will file a complaint with UEFA.

Quotes from the article
- In addition to the 1,520 children that have been killed [since 2000], another 6,000 have been injured and more than 10,000 arrested, Palestinian news agency Ma’an quoted [minister of social affairs] Sharafi as saying. Two-hundred children are still in detention in Israeli prisons.

- Each year, some 700 Palestinian children aged 12 to 17 – mainly boys – are arrested, interrogated, and detained by Israel's army, police, and security agents, UNICEF said in the [March 2013] 22-page document.

- In June 2013, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) issued a report stating that thousands of Palestinian children were systematically injured, tortured, and used as human shields by Israel.

- During the 10-year period examined by UN human rights experts, up to 7,000 children aged 9 to 17 were arrested, interrogated and kept captive, CRC said in the report.

You picked an amazing place to watch MEX-NED. First half was indeed messy – after De Jong left the game (9'') the system collapsed. Mexico was stronger. Second half was for the Dutch though it took them long to score. You could see the frustration in Sneijder's goal.

BTW — it was 39 degrees Celcius during the game. Pretty crazy. Qatar, here we come!

The country is called 'Nederland' (in Dutch) or The Netherlands (in English). Holland is a province (actually two, North and South); historically it has always been a very powerful region as part of several entities. Hence the name became known to the outside world, mixed up with The Netherlands that it became part of.

I gladly admit that the Dutch add to the confusion by stricktly using 'Nederland' in Dutch, but 'Holland' in English – as they realize many foreigners know the country as such. Hyper-correctness in optima forma.

If the Netherlands will beat Mexico tomorrow they might reach the final. Many people here would have preferred to play against Brazil instead of Mexico though; I believe Mexico is stronger.

Not sure if the Brazilians will make it to the final; they'll have to defeat Chile, Colombia and Germany or France. All these teams play very well.

Four years ago The Netherlands defeated Brazil in the semi-final; in 1998 we lost against Brazil at the same stage after penalties. Holland made it to the final three times: in 1974 (1-2 loss against Germany), 1978 (1-3 loss against Argentina after extra time), 2010 (0-1 loss against Spain after extra time).

The present Dutch team might be less strong than the previous teams – playing less attractive also, which is not taken lightly –, but mentally it seems ready to win a final. The most difficult hurdle: Mexico, in blazing Fortaleza, tomorrow at 13.00 local time.

Yep. Red alert. We're in the middle of a storm over here – except that we can't find the storm. And neither can all these Israeli's that settle down in cities like Berlin and Amsterdam. What the hell is Gelb talking about?

Let one thing be clear. We have no problem with 'Rising anti-Semitism', but the US has a big problem with the Israel lobby. Gelb just showed how deep he bent over for it with his sickening 'excuse'.

I think you have a bit of a problem. Israel is the major child-kidnapping nation in the world. And yeah, that's flatly prohibited under the Fouth Geneva Convention (art. 34). But you probably knew that already.

- In addition to the 1,520 children that have been killed [since 2000], another 6,000 have been injured and more than 10,000 arrested, Palestinian news agency Ma’an quoted [minister of social affairs] Sharafi as saying. Two-hundred children are still in detention in Israeli prisons.

- Each year, some 700 Palestinian children aged 12 to 17 – mainly boys – are arrested, interrogated, and detained by Israel's army, police, and security agents, UNICEF said in the [March 2013] 22-page document.

- In June 2013, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) issued a report stating that thousands of Palestinian children were systematically injured, tortured, and used as human shields by Israel.

- During the 10-year period examined by UN human rights experts, up to 7,000 children aged 9 to 17 were arrested, interrogated and kept captive, CRC said in the report.

If there are Palestinians involved, it looks like this was more of an unexpected opportunity than a planned operation – given the fact no claims were made. The fact that one of the boys could call the police points in the same direction. In any case it seems highly unlikely Hamas is involved.

@ MDM
'My point was that the author is claiming these young men are ‘innocent’, but given that they squat on stolen land, and that settler ‘youths’ have a terrible record for harassing and injuring Palestinians, I’m not sure we can make that assumption.'

If these boys live in the Westbank there is nothing innocent about them.

Iraq had no WMD's when the coalition of the willing attacked. But when the coalition left again, large parts of Iraq were covered with depleted uranium. It's everywhere: the desert wind carries it, food and ground water are poisoned. Experts talk about 'nuclear warfare' to describe the damage. Iraq is doomed for millions of years.

John Pilger is one of very few journalists on the story. The MSM are only interested in non-existing WMD's.

I am pretty sure the taxi is a Jewish invention, too – came in a package with Greek culture. And hey – you mention the pagans. Guess who invented them? Basically they invented everything except the Palestinians; these do not exist.

Actually, Jerusalem is Palestinian – a mirror of the Palestinian people, except that the people go back thousands of years further. Jews and Arabs and many others left their marks, but the city is Palestinian.

And now back to the rights of the Palestinians, that don't demand any further discussion at all. Have you thought of a way yet to remove almost a million settlers by next month? After you figured that out, I'll be happy to discuss secondary matters.

The inhabitants of Palestine were Palestinians. Their 'Arab-ness' is part of a mix of many '-nesses', and that's what distinguishes them from the Arabs in the peninsula. They are a Mediterranean/Levantine people. That's why I prefer the name Palestinian. Besides, there are also non-Arab Palestinians.

There is no doubt that in terms of culture, language and religion the Palestinians are mostly 'Arab'. But ethnically that doesn't fly. And ever since the Israeli's are presenting the Palestinians as 'Arabs' (as to make clear they might as well live in Iraq or Yemen), I think we should be thoughtful in using that term.

So, my suggestion, let's stick to 'Palestinians', who have lived in Palestine for thousands of years, absorbing other cultures along the way (including Canaanites, Phoenicians, Jews, Arabs, etc.).

Great initiative, but no answers other than: 'Come on!'. The opposite is true, and actually that amazes me time and again. How can the people of – say – Nabi Salih put up without turning into monsters? Thát's what stands out for me. How about Ms. Rudoren taking this on?

As for statistics, I found this one clarifying wrt the question who's killing who:link to imemc.org

For those still in doubt, this is the most recent Human Rights Council report:link to ohchr.org

Within your framework it's the editor's duty to make shure that hefty and/or highly unlikely claims such as the one being discussed, are accompanied by solid backup or proof. The editor should have asked the writer to provide this, or refuse publication. Or she could have used her basic human insticts to determine that this claim is simply not acceptable in a civilzed discourse.

My question is: Why didn't this happen? And: does this mean that a claim that 'Jews have avowed as their goal to kill all Palestinians' gets through also? I doubt it. I think it will be hammered down as an anti-Semitic blood libel. So that's another point that needs clarification by the Times.

BTW, I think Ms. Sullivan is showing that – finally – there is movement within the Times on the way to honest reporting on I/P. I salute her.

You are very wrong. I guess you weren't among the tens of thousands at Dam Square, right ánd left, after Van Gogh was murdered. There is no link between the left and the maniacs that threatened Van Gogh or Hirsi Ali.

There was also no link between the left and the lies of Hirsi Ali. She brought them up herself, in an interview with a prominent medium. She added that she was aware she was risking her citizenship and her membership of parliament. Four days later she resigned herself and announced she was going to the AEI.

She went to the AEI to work for them, not because they offered protection. They did not. That's why the Dutch sent along a bunch of agents, for a period of 12 months. After this year Hirsi Ali returned to Holland, where she has permanent protection.

And so your guesses about our government are no more than that: wild guesses. And FYI, Ali used to be a popular speaker in the left-wing circuit. She was a popular member of the social-democrat PvdA (Labour), but changed over to the Liberals (VVD) in 2002 when the anti-islam meme became popular.

Listen DaBakr. Holland went through a shock. Rightests misused that in the same way you do. That brought a lot of harm to our society, that we are still recovering from. An open society is vulnerable, in case you don't know. The last thing we need is your antique baseless crap. The matter is too important for us. Do you understand that?

Most important is that Hirsi Ali came to the Netherlands in 1992, during the crisis in Somalia. Upon entrance shy lied about several facts. She claimed to flee Somalia, but in fact she lived in Kenia and Germany for 12 years. She also lied about here age and her name. Based on these lies she was granted Dutch citizenship in 1995. She lived here from 1992-2006 and 2007-2011 (about 2011 I am not certain).

Hirsi Ali became a member of parliament. In an interview in 2006 she herself mentioned that she could loose that membership and her nationality because she had lied upon arrival. Days later she declared to leave parliament by Sep. 1, and to start working for the AEI. In the end she did not lose het citizenship, but I'm not sure if she still is Dutch (she is a US citizen since April 2013).

She returned to Holland in Oct. 2007, because the Dutch stopped her protection in the US after a year. She was protected since the murder of Theo van Gogh (January 2005), with whom she made the film Submission. At some point, I believe in 2011, she returned to the US, (re)married and gave birth to a child.

Hirsi Ali later explained her lies (upon entering Holland) by her fear to be tracked down by her husband or possible wrenchful family members. Later even she called herself an 'economic refugee', the prototype of a 'luck seeker', who preferred living in Holland to Germany or Kenia. Most recently she blamed 'extremist islam' for giving up her Dutch nationality.

Hirsi Ali could claim a position in the Dutch political landscape because of the post-911 madness. She won respect on the left as a fighter for 'women rights', and on the right as 'anti-islam' propagandist. By all camps she was honored for picking up so fast, being the victim of a brutal conflict, coming straight from the batlle field.

She still publishes in Holland, most recently a few days ago an Op'ed about the Brandeis matter. She is furious.

BTW, she and Wilders were parliamentary collegues for the Liberal party VVD.

As a Jew I am not offended by Puppies' comments. I do not always agree with him, I would have chosen other words sometimes, but I can often understand his position.

I actually like his quote about the majority ('great' would probably be more accurate than 'overwhelming') of Jews being supportive of major crimes. It's the painful truth, I'm afraid.

There is a whole lot of effort in promoting the Israeli crimes as Jewish — committed for a vehicle called a 'Jewish state', for the benefit of the 'Jewish people', with a lot of 'Jewish pride' and 'Jewish rights' involved. Unfortunately this is supported (even today) by a great majority of Jews worldwide.

So, now someone is asking 'us' (Jews) to step away from this complicity. You unpack a 'classic blood libel', but that doesn't answer the situation Puppies is referring to, and that certainly exists. As long as Israel's crimes are being marketed as 'Jewish', and as long as Jews themselves keep defending them as such, don't blame the ones that bring that up.

BTW, Puppies brought up anti-Semitism as well. You choose to unpack his over-strong language, by calling him an anti-Semite. Puppies points at two possibilities: either anti-Semitism is directed against an ethnic group, or against a religion or cultural superstructure. So, exactly which one is at stake here? By reacting so strong, do you feel addressed as a people or a religion?

Maybe you're not aware, but these Dutch companies were talking about human rights abuses. And today the UN confirmed that Palestine will join the requested int'l conventions, among them the Geneva Conventions. Israel calls that a nightmare, not for the reasons you state, but for the fact that it will end their colonial project, and that the country will be called to justice. If that means a 'threat' to you, you're in bad shape, mister.

I remember to have read in earlier MW-comments about Jewish cooperation with the Nazi-regime, prior and during the start of WWII. Unfortunately I cannot find it back. Can someone help me out? Thanks a lot.

@ Yonah
I have no idea about Ben Gurion. The lack of workers is the central story I have been told over and over again. People were promised jobs, houses, etc. if they were prepared to settle in Israel. Many did, others didn't. It's economically driven. No, I have no link. We never published any results, as we're only halfway.

@ mcohen
Modern times. BTW – as far as I know the pharaonic story is phantasy and never happened.

I guess the point Woody is making is that many Jews left the Arab countries of free will. Most of them were stimulated by Israel to go live (work) in that country, that lacked labour force.

I have been involved in interviewing Jews in Egypt and Morocco about the actual happenings and their choices. Surely in Egypt Jews were forced out (others left long before that out of free will), but in Morocco that didn't happen. I was surprised to learn that Moroccan Jews who left for Israel return every two years to their original villages on vacation.

Well, and let's not forget that the PVV (Party for Freedom) is getting paid by the Israel Lobby. The weekly Vrij Nederland published a report on this 2-3 years ago. They reported cash money was trucked into the PVV-premises, which are located inside parliament. So it's my guess that Ms Stassen got a direct order.

Great to see a Chech MEP stand up against it and speaking the truth. The Chechs are the most loyal friends Israel has left in Europe.

In the Netherlands a petition was launched by students/professors of several universities to put pressure on the ABP pension fund to divest from Israeli companies. Please support it if you agree (text in English), and help us to spread the word. Thanks!link to petities24.com

ABP is one of the largest pension funds in the world with an invested capital of 292 billion euro's. Also see Alex's post (and comments) on PGGM of January 8: link to mondoweiss.net

WWII is a shameful history for the Netherlands. Sure, there were people that stood up. But most didn't. I guess the Netherlands were just like any other country, full of heroes, full of cowards.

This hasn't gotten any better. When our government joined the Iraq War, where were the people to stop this insane action? Most of them found it 'terrebly complicated', and moved on with their lives. In Iraq over a million innocent people were killed. Our signature is on their death act. Terrebly complicated, indeed.

And as Israels crimial actions continue, we're on the wrong side again, for decades.

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